


Five Finger Discount

by wynnebat



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Thieves, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 12:01:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20389369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wynnebat/pseuds/wynnebat
Summary: Vernon Dursley didn't believe in all but the basic wards that the city mandated all buildings must have. Number Four, Privet Drive stood out to anyone with a touch of mage's sight, lackluster in comparison to its neighbors multicolored arrays of wards. It was all but stealing from the hands of a child, but Tom had never been the type for moral arguments, and there was something about a house that unprotected that appealed to his light fingers.





	Five Finger Discount

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aroundloafofbread](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aroundloafofbread/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [aroundloafofbread](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aroundloafofbread/pseuds/aroundloafofbread) in the [TomarryFlashExchanges](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/TomarryFlashExchanges) collection. 

> **Prompt:**
> 
> Tom sneaks in through the bedroom window of the new house he has targeted. He will steal some valuables, including the adorable messy-haired guy sleeping in the bed.

Vernon Dursley didn't believe in all but the basic wards that the city mandated all buildings must have. Number Four, Privet Drive stood out to anyone with a touch of mage's sight, lackluster in comparison to its neighbors multicolored arrays of wards. It was all but stealing from the hands of a child, but Tom had never been the type for moral arguments, and there was something about a house that unprotected that appealed to his light fingers.

It could have simply been the urge to crack open the Dursleys' safe and see what was inside. Petunia Dursley had boasted of various jewels, while Dudley was known to talk of the souvenirs that Vernon brought home on his travels. He worked for the royal family, and lived in the White District, and as such Tom was willing to believe that even a man such as Vernon Dursley would have something worth stealing. The man had no taste in clothes, nor in personality, but Tom was an optimist when it came to theft. He was very, very good at what he did, and was often rewarded greatly.

He sent his familiar to fly around the home first. Given the all clear, Tom scaled the wall around the house, gripping the stone with a touch of magic. Vernon didn't even have foreign magic-repelling wards set up. It was laughable. After stealing from him, Tom would report him to the city as being in breach of their strict guidelines.

Tom circled the house in tandem with his familiar. The falcon stopped at a window and Tom stopped with it, sending his magic up with the wind. The window opened and his falcon flew inside. Thrice more, they repeated this, until all the residents of the house had been visited by his clever bird. They wouldn't wake until the morning, when their valuables were long gone.

With that, Tom walked through the front door. He went through the rooms at his leisure. Nothing on the first floor drew his attention. He passed by the servants' quarters, noting that the family only had one servant: a young man, messy-haired, handsome if thin. Tom spent a moment staring down at him with consideration, but he had a job to do. Profit wasn't going to make itself. Neither would revenge against the man of the house, who had called out Tom's ancestry at court. This was only the first step in making him pay.

Upstairs was where the real valuables were held. Tom trampled through each room, content in the knowledge that no one in this house would wake. He was inspecting Petunia's jewelry and deciding if it was of fine enough quality to steal when he heard footsteps from outside the room.

Tom's familiar straightened to attention from her perch on the bed's baseboard. She was thoroughly magical, but in a pinch, very few could defend themselves against her claws with grace.

It was the servant who approached, blinking sleep from of his eyes. He looked between Tom, Tom's familiar, and his sleeping masters. He said, "Vernon keeps the spare room across the hall locked. I'm not even allowed to clean it. I bet his best stuff is in there."

"Thank you," Tom said, gathering magic to his eyes. Attraction had put him off his routine; he should have checked the servant for magic, as he usually did despite it not being likely. In this case, it was not likely, but overflowing, and the young man shone brightly enough that Tom dispersed the magic sight. Of course he'd thrown off the spell. "Are you planning to stop me?"

"Anything to inconvenience the Dursleys," the servant replied rather cheerfully. "I hate them." He cocked his head, looking Tom up and down. "You should steal me, too."

"I don't deal in human cargo," Tom dismissed. After a beat, he added, "It's illegal."

"You can keep me as your apprentice. I'll sign a contract. Anything to be out of here. My aunt and uncle burned my invitation to the Magician's Guild and won't let me leave."

"You're not a servant?" Tom asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm their nephew, Harry. Not quite a servant, not quite family." Harry approached, and Tom have no sign to his familiar that she should attack. Nagini watched him with an intent, wary gaze, but Harry only had eyes for Tom. "If Vernon wakes to find his valuables gone, he'll assume I did it somehow. Don't you want proper credit for the job?"

"I don't advertise my less than legal activities," Tom replied. He had a life at court that he enjoyed; he would hardly give it up to be a common thief. He simply enjoyed getting back at his enemies outside of the sphere of politics. Besides, theft gave him a way to keep his magical skills honed. "You're probably traced, anyway."

"Are you saying a master thief such as you can't dissolve a trace? It's an old spell and the man who did it couldn't have been as powerful as you are."

"Flattery," Tom said. He didn't find it within himself to scorn Harry's words. He should look pathetic, pleading at Tom like that, but instead he looked determined, angry at the world and reckless enough to ask for help from a thief. Harry had little to lose. Tom could use someone like him. "You won't like being my apprentice."

"I'll like it more than being the Dursleys' servant," Harry promised. He held out his hand.

Tom took it, placing his other hand on top of Harry's. Harry's skin was rough, and his pulse was steady. Tom stripped the trace from him within seconds and added a spell of his own in its place. And with that, the deed was sealed.

"Your first act of apprenticeship will be to help me with the locked room," Tom said, letting go of Harry's hand. His own felt warm in the moments afterward.

"I copied Vernon's key years ago," Harry admitted with a grin, and vanished through the doorway.

Tom wondered if it was too late to renege on their agreement. Apprentices seemed to be more trouble than they were worth, and Harry doubly so. But if anything, he knew that life would be very interesting with Harry around. He couldn't wait to see Vernon at court tomorrow, missing both his nephew and his valuables, and fruitlessly complaining about it to anyone who would listen.


End file.
